Philly plans to rebuild river pier

Pier 11, a finger of vacant land just south of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia, is getting an extreme makeover, paid for by a million-dollar grant from the William Penn Foundation, according to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The report said by next year, the pier will reemerge as a park, becoming the first tangible example of how the city wants the waterfront to develop. "This brings us one step closer to our shared vision for a great waterfront," Mayor Michael Nutter said at a news conference Sunday at Pier 11.